Radeon R9 380X Q&A with Evan Groenke

Hello Red Team! Today we introduced the newest member to the Radeon family: the R9 380X. This new GPU was conceived to play the most demanding games at high details at 1080p and 1440p. Don't believe us? Check out Red Team Plus' designsbyninjaAMD R9 380X - 1080p Performance Overviewto see his results!

We know you have questions about the 380X and its performance; Senior Product Manager Evan Groenke is here to help! Just ask your 380X related question in this thread and we will answer them within 24-hours. The best part of all, this Q&A will be open for 72 hours!

Would a 380X feel like a worthwhile improvement over my CrossFire 2x 270 setup? Thanks.

Evan: Radeon R9 270's in CrossFire is still quite a potent setup. Where you would see the largest improvement is newer games at higher resolutions that would take advantage of the 4GB of Memory on the R9 380X

Does the 380X come factory overclocked? How much better is it than the original 380? Also 2 and 4 gig versions?

Evan:If you're looking for something faster than the R9 380, depending on the partner model you have selected you'll see anywhere from 10% more performance from the R9 380X. The R9 380X will only be a 4GB card.

Why now? Why wasn't it available alongside other 3xx cards or soon after 285 release?

Evan: When we launched the R9 300 Series our core focus was on the R9 380 and R9 390 GPU’s which addressed the ~$199 and ~$299 GPU budgets. Fast forward to the cusp of the 2015 holiday season where we have incredibly demanding AAA games like Fallout 4 and Star Wars Battlefront releasing. While the R9 380 GPU is selling very well, we have seen demand for a higher performing <225W GPU at the mid $200 price point that had yet to be addressed in the market by either AMD or the competition. The R9 380X fits that bill and is available just in time for your holiday upgrades for those AAA titles.

I have a 280x and was really sad that the 380x didn't outright beat it. was it a cost decision to justify 256>384?

Evan: While the Radeon R9 380 and 380X products are packed with state-of-the-art features, they’re also targeting some specific sweet spots for gamers. Starting at ~$200 range, they offer killer performance at very competitive price point, which are unrivaled in their categories. To achieve the above mentioned value proposition, as well as deliver 4GB of memory which this segment demands, the Radeon R9 380 Series takes advantage of its fame buffer color compression and delivers amazing performance while configured with a 256-bit memory interface.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm hoping that driver maturity brings out more performance over time. That is what AMD is known for and is why my 280x is still strong. the 380X will go great with my new free-sync monitor so I will more than likely take the plunge.

Evan:The Radeon R9 380 Series, while sharing a similar number of Compute Units features our latest GCN implementation found on the R9 Fury products. We also have improved multi-media features, improved geometry processing, and improved memory bandwidth efficiency to name a few while also delivering it in a much lower power envelope.

About how much of a performance increase is it from a 280X? And what GCN version?

Evan: If you're running a R9 280X right now you still have quite a fast GPU. Performance will vary from game to game but in Battlefield 4 in my rig I've seen >10% improvements at much lower power. The GCN architecture underlying the R9 380X is the same that you'll find in the Radeon Fury series as well!

Evan: For now we only have benchmarks to reference until full games based on DirectX 12 are released but early benchmarks show a significant lead vs. NVIDIA (http://techreport.com/r.x/radeon-r9-380x/fl-avgfps.gif). What this is really showing is the benefit of our Asynchronous Compute Engines in DirectX 12.

Evan: If you're looking for a Graphics Card to get into 4K gaming and have the budget for it, the Radeon R9 390X 8GB is a great option. The Radeon R9 380X is targeted to deliver high quality gaming with the eye candy turned up at 1080p and 1440p and the product is priced to reflect that.

can we expect to see any pricing changes on other cards? How’s it compare to a regular 380 or a 390?

Evan: If you're looking for something faster than the R9 380, depending on the partner model you have selected you'll see anywhere from 10% more performance from the R9 380X. If you're looking to jump up to 4k the R9 390 with 8GB is something to consider.

why does the graphs show other cards that are multiple generations old?

Evan: I often get questions on how much faster is it vs. product X that I have in my system from 2 or 3 years ago. If you're still holding on to a Radeon HD 7850 in your system of something from the competition from that timeframe you're getting a great performance boost!

Evan: When we launched the R9 300 Series our core focus was on the R9 380 and R9 390 GPU’s which addressed the ~$199 and ~$299 GPU budgets. Fast forward to the cusp of the 2015 holiday season where we have incredibly demanding AAA games like Fallout 4 and Star Wars Battlefront releasing. While the R9 380 GPU is selling very well, we have seen demand for a higher performing <225W GPU at the mid $200 price point that had yet to be addressed in the market by either AMD or the competition. The R9 380X fits that bill and is available just in time for your holiday upgrades for those AAA titles.

compared to a 390. How much of a performance drop is there in fallout 4 and GTA V? Can I still max it out at 60 fps?

Evan: The Radeon R9 380X can handle 1080p 60fps in Fallout 4 no problem and has GTA V handled as well. This is with the eye candy cranked as well. But don't take it from me - Guru3D has that exact info for you:

Evan: The true successor to the R9 290 is the Radeon R9 390. You may still be able to find a few R9 290's on sale and it's still a great GPU and will have some performance benefits over the R9 380X. However if you're limited to 2x 6pin PCI-E power connectors you can't beat the perforamnce from the R9 380X.

Evan: The FX-8150 is still pretty fast. Ultimately it would depend on the games you play but it will really depend on the games you're planning on playing with the R9 380X. If they are graphically challegning the CPU shouldn't hold you back.

I love AMD, but look what they compared it to. Nobody would call those cards competitors to a 380x.

Evan: If you take it all in perspective the product beats the compeition as shown in the chart but we really wanted to highlight how much extra perforamnce you get from upgrading the 2-3year old GPU in your system. Not only do you get a huge performance upgrade over your old GPU but you also get better performance than what the competitor offers.

Evan: If you purchased a 280X you still have a potent GPU. There's still a large number of users still running a HD 7850 that they bought for ~$250 a few years back. We're hoping this is the nudge to get them to upgrade and have the performance to run this holiday's AAA games with the eye candy turned up.

What wattage power supplies are recommended to be used with the R9 380x?

Evan: The miniumum PSU required for the R9 380 Seies is 500W with 2x 6pin PCI-E power connectors. Depending on your system configuration and other accressories attached to your PC you may need to use a higher wattage PSU.

What is the MSRP in CAD? Also how does this compare to the AMD R9 290?

Evan: Pricing does vary region to region but quickly scanning my local PC shop here in Canada there are R9 380X models starting at ~$329 after factoring in the exchange rate. For your second question, true successor to the R9 290 is the Radeon R9 390. You may still be able to find a few R9 290's on sale and it's still a great GPU and will have some performance benefits over the R9 380X. However if you're limited to 2x 6pin PCI-E power connectors you can't beat the performance from the R9 380X.

Evan: The R9 380X is in a completely different class than the GTX 950. Not only does the R9 380X come with 4GB of GDDR5 memory but it is also able to deliver excellent frame rates at 1440p with high quality settings.

How many years could this GPU resist or endure as gaming are evolving?!

Evan: That really depends on the games to play. Many users are still using their HD 7800 series GPUs and making the upgrade now which says quite a bit. With Async Shaders you're well set with an R9 380X GPU for upcoming DirecX 12 titles but your results may vary.

There was rumors that the 380x will have a 384bit bus, does the ASIC really have a 384 bit bus??

Evan: While the Radeon R9 380 and 380X products are packed with state-of-the-art features, they’re also targeting some specific sweet spots for gamers. Starting at ~$200 range, they offer killer performance at very competitive price point, which are unrivaled in their categories. To achieve the above mentioned value proposition, as well as deliver 4GB of memory which this segment demands, the Radeon R9 380 Series takes advantage of its fame buffer color compression and delivers amazing performance while configured with a 256-bit memory interface.

Evan: The true successor to the R9 290 is the Radeon R9 390. You may still be able to find a few R9 290's on sale and it's still a great GPU and will have some performance benefits over the R9 380X. However if you're limited to 2x 6pin PCI-E power connectors you can't beat the perforamnce from the R9 380X.

What would be better in terms of frame rate while having ultra in 1080p R9 380x or R9 nano?

Evan: If you're looking for the ultimate performance in a SFF package the R9 Nano will deliver the best performance. However if your budget doesn't permit that caliber of GPU the R9 380X will deliver over 60-70fps in the majority of AAA games with the eye candy turned up.

Should I upgrade my 280X to 380X? And how performance would I gain more?

Evan: The choice to upgrade is your's. However, If you're running a R9 280X right now you still have quite a fast GPU. Performance will vary from game to game but in Battlefield 4 in my rig I've seen >10% improvements at much lower power.